Syracuse, N.Y.— Outfielder Michael Taylor arrived in Syracuse on Monday with big cleats to fill, and he started carefully slipping them on right away.

Taylor, making his Triple-A debut, capped a seventh-inning rally by driving in the winning run as the Syracuse Chiefs posted a come-from-behind 7-6 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday night at NBT Bank Stadium.

Taylor, recalled from Double-A Harrisburg earlier in the day to replace potential IL MVP Steven Souza Jr,, introduced himself with two hits, two walks, a stolen base, a run scored and an RBI.

"I'm really trying not to do too much, just relax out there,'' Taylor said. "Any time you get to a new level, you want to get off to a good start, do what you can to help your new team.''

The Chiefs maintained a one-game lead in the International League North, this time over Pawtucket. Rochester started the night a half-game behind the Chiefs but lost to Louisville. The PawSox were one game behind Syracuse and maintained that deficit by beating Columbus.

Chiefs starter A.J. Cole gave up six hits and three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, walking four and fanning two. Reliever Matt Grace (1-0) pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball to pick up the win.

Souza, recalled earlier Monday, leads the league in batting average (.354), slugging percentage (.601), on-base percentage (.435) and is tied for first in RBIs (70).

"I don't want to make any comparisons. We don't spend too much time thinking about it,'' Gardner said of the loss of Souza. "I just know the guy (Taylor) is a tremendous athlete. He's a high-ceiling guy with all the tools. He's very smart, knows how to play the game.''

The Chiefs filled in a 6-4 hole with three in the seventh against relievers Jim Miller (5-3) and Pat Venditte. Will Rhymes led off with a single and Jeff Kobernus doubled him home. Emmanuel Burris then singled Kobernus to third.

One out later, Brandon Laird singled to drive in Kobernus to tie the game. Venditte then relieved Miller. He got Tyler Moore to pop out, but Taylor slapped a two-out double to left to score Burris with the go-ahead run.

Taylor's game-changing at-bat carried the look of a professional hitter. It came on a 2-2 count, after he had swung and missed at a pair of curveballs and fouled off a fastball. He then roped a sinker for the hit.

"I was just trying to battle with two strikes,'' Taylor said. "I wasn't sitting on any pitch.''

The Chiefs still had to sweat out a RailRaiders rally against reliever Rafael Martin in the ninth.

Adonis Garcia singled with one out and Kyle Roller's single moved him to third. Martin then got Zelous Wheeler to hit a high chopper to Laird at third, and Laird threw home to nail Garcia. Martin then fanned John Ryan Murphy to end the game. Martin has gone 40 1/3 innings combined between Syracuse and Harrisburg without allowing an earned run.

The Chiefs tied a season high with four errors, and shoddy fielding helped Syracuse turn a 4-3 lead into a 6-4 deficit in the fifth and sixth innings.

In the fifth, the RailRiders tied the game on a two-out gift. With Zoilo Amonte on second and Garcia on first, Wheeler slapped a ground ball up the middle against reliever Ryan Mattheus.

Shortstop Burriss knocked the ball down to hold Almonte at third, but Burris then threw wildly to first allowing Almonte to score.

An inning later, Taylor Dugas led off with a grounder back to Mattheus. The pitcher threw wildly to first, allowing Dugas to reach second. Dugas took third on Rob Segedin's groundout and then scored as Jose Pirela reached on a fielder's choice.

Robert Refsnyder followed with a double to drive in Pirela for a 6-4 RailRiders cushion.

"We gave up some runs tonight, obviously,'' Gardner said. "That's uncharacteristic of us.''

Syracuse surged ahead with a four-run fourth to erase a 3-0 RailRiders edge. With one out and Josh Johnson on first, Laird crushed an offering from starter Nik Turley off the left-field foul pole for a homer.

One out later, Taylor drew a walk and Solano followed with a single to move him to second. Turley then plunked Eury Perez to load the bases, an offering that would be his last of the game.

Diego Moreno relieved Turley, and Will Rhymes greeted him with a screaming double to right that brought in Taylor and Solano for a 4-3 Syracuse lead.

The Chiefs' clutch hitting reversed a recent trend. During the team's 4-12 slump heading into Monday, Syracuse was 20-138 (.145) with runners in scoring position. Monday, the team was 5-for-11(.455).

"That's one thing we haven't been able to do, get that big hit. We did that tonight,'' Gardner said. "We've proved we can do it. We went through a little bit of a rut offensively. Tonight was a big boost for us.''
Taylor got off to a rough start in the top of the first. Pirela led off with a double and Refsnyder then lofted a fly ball to Taylor in deep center.

Taylor made a nice running catch, and Pirela tagged and took off for third. Taylor lost the ball transferring it from glove to hand, allowing Pirela to come around for the game's first run.

"I think I was just rushing a little bit,'' Taylor said.

The RailRiders tacked on two more in the third. Pirela led off with a single and he took second on Refsnyder's groundout.

Almonte plated Pirela with a single, and Almonte took second when catcher Solano's throw to that base sailed into center field. Garcia singled Almonte to third, and he came home on a single by Roller.

In another move on Monday, Washington released Syracuse Chiefs pitcher Josh Roenicke. To replace Roenicke, the Nationals promoted right handed pitcher Scott McGregor from Harrisburg. McGregor was 2-1 with a 5.22 ERA with Harrisburg.